Blog

By Ali Oromchian Esq

If you own a dental practice, you have a number of responsibilities to your employees, regardless of the size of your organization. One of those responsibilities is to ensure that employer health plans are administered properly – a task which may sound simple, but in practice can be anything but. That is because even the most informed and intelligent employers may be finding themselves confused by all of the requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Fortunately, the IRS has recognized the challenge that understanding the ACA can be, and in response it has released new guidelines intended to assist employers with questions they may have on a number of healthcare-related topics. IRS Notice 2015-87 provides guidance on multipl...

By Ali Oromchian Esq

As an employer, there is perhaps nothing more stressful than facing potential litigation. Regardless of whether the conflict relates to an issue with a patient, an employee, or even a regulatory agency, and regardless of whether you are truly at fault, the bottom line is that the best approach to litigation is to avoid it in the first place.

Fortunately, a new law in California is helping employers to do just that when it comes to correcting employee wage statements. Assembly Bill 1506 (AB 1506) was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on October 2, 2015 and took effect immediately. The law is an amendment to the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), and it provides employers with 33 days in which to "cure" certain commonly litigate...

By Ali Oromchian Esq

The strength and success of a dental and medical practice depend upon a number of factors, ranging from the skill levels of its practitioners to the location of the office. But you may be surprised to hear that an office’s atmosphere is one of the most important determinants of a practice’s success. You can choose to hire only the most skilled employees, but those professionals are unlikely to remain with your practice if the work environment is unpleasant. Further, even if your practice offers the highest-quality dental and medical services, patients are unlikely to return to your office if the atmosphere is unprofessional or unwelcoming. Therefore, it is important to spend as much time and effort cultivating and maintaining...

By Ali Oromchian Esq

The drafting and implementation of employment contracts may not be one of the most exciting parts of running a dental and medical practice, but these contracts have become a necessary component of most successful businesses. Employment contracts can cover everything from salary and bonus structures to parking policies and the office dress code. In other words, employment contracts are intended to be flexible, “living” documents which can be modified to address a wide array of employee rights and responsibilities.

One provision of employment contracts has come under fire: the confidentiality clause. More than simple reinforcement of the patient protections covered by HIPAA, for example, employers are finding that requiring emp...